[1] In 1860, the colonial government of Victoria decided to send the sloop to New Zealand, to support British colonists fighting in the First Taranaki War.

Prior to her departure, the colonial government passed an Act giving the ship legal status, but this law was overturned by Britain as an attempt to create a naval force independent of the Royal Navy.

In October, the ship underwent refit in Wellington, and resumed duties by delivering British reinforcements to the combat areas.

As the Victorian colonial government required the ship for urgent survey work, her return was requested at the end of the year, with Victoria arriving in Melbourne in March 1861.

[citation needed] Accompanied by Firefly (188 tons, built 1843), Victoria departed Brisbane on 24 August 1861, arriving at the Albert River in the Gulf of Carpentaria at the end of September 1861.

On 14 July 1866, Netherby, carrying immigrants to Queensland, was wrecked off King Island in Bass Strait and all 413 passengers and 49 crew made it onshore safely, but there they were without shelter and with very limited provisions.

The second officer, John Parry, led a party of crew and passengers to procure assistance from the lighthouse on the island, but there were insufficient supplies there for the number of survivors.

Parry and three others took the 23-foot whaleboat at the lighthouse and, despite high winds and rough seas, managed to reach the Australian mainland between Point Roadknight and Barwon Heads, where they met a party of surveyors who immediately assisted them.